PEORIA — Peoria County will have to do some belt tightening to make up for an anticipated $1.6 million budget shortfall, caused largely by sales tax revenue that was less than expected.

County officials told board members at the monthly finance meeting that there appears to be a trend in the declining sales tax and unless it is corrected soon, it could lead to bigger issues for next year’s budget. The report came as Peoria County begins its 2015 budget process, which will cumulate in the budget being passed in November.

County Administrator Lori Curtis Luther and Chief Financial Officer Eric Dubrowski said they have a plan in place to tackle the deficit, namely to keep vacancies open, push to have companies pay their accounts faster and to possibly tap into the county’s reserves.

One bright spot, Luther said, was the Circuit Clerk’s office, which has doubled the amount of fines and fees it has collected since last year. Even so, the administrator said, the office is looking to move an employee to work with a collections agency to recover more of the unpaid fees, fines and costs.

Tax figures from the state show that personal income taxes are down slightly, about 2.3 percent, which could mean people are making less money or it could be a sign of changing tax laws. But corporate income tax was up about 5 percent from last year and 13 percent more than the county had expected.

Also doing better than expected was motor fuel tax, which has long been a concern as cars get more fuel efficient. For the month of May, the county received about 13 percent more than expected.

All that, however, was offset by the downfall in sales tax, which came in at more than 8 percent under budget. Dubrowski said the long winter could have played a role in that but the downward trend continued after the spring thaw.